>If you decide to do the prep yourself, take Jarrid up on his offer. You'll
>need a guru. Mine was John Lorenzo, who has restored several Tigers and
>Alpines. Keep in mind that there are some jobs that are time sensitive,
and
>won't wait. You might have to use some vacation time or burn the midnight
>oil to get blocks of time, or to complete a job before the paint dries. At
>times your wife may feel like a painter's widow. Plan your project
>carefully, and be realistic about how long it will take.
Now come on, whats this guru BS?
Not long after I got my first car (at 16) I bought a body and paint book from Pep Boys. The book went from pits and scratches on usable paint, to dings and rust, on to welding, body hammers and shrinking dollies, using a torch to shrink metal, then on to priming, leveling and then paint and finish.
My first car was so sad looking, I had no choice but to do what I could to make the car look acceptable.
Back then, if the outcome looked better than the first article, then it was a successfull endeaver.
Since I have gotten a lot of practice fixing oops's of all sorts on my wifes cars, friends and families cars and so on.
Practice makes perfect, or so it is said, but the books generally tell you how to do the job, and most things that you screwup, are reworkable.
While definatlely not the afformentioned guru, I do know how to straighten a panel, even to perfection, if the project were to require. Save the guru lable for the guy who can straighten a wrinkly panel with only the use of a torch, hammer and a file.
In retrospect, I would leave the painting to a pro, if I had the coin to do so. Painting is one of the few times that even knowing what you are doing doesnt help when you are painting outside a paint booth. Selection of the correct thinner, emmaculate prep, putting down a thick heavy coat that doesnt run ect ect, are all pieces to the picture that come only with time and experience, of which I have little of each.
I do hope that Jay does do whatever he can in the straightening dept,, as I found the whole process messy, but very rewarding.
My advice is...
Never take the car down to bare metal "sorry Jay", there are certain things that you ought not to know, and most likely your just gonna put new bondo over old.
Put a plastic curtain around the worksight if you are grinding/sanding. This very well may save your marriage.
Know well in advance what the procedures are for a given task. Think the process through in your head, execute only then.
Wear a real activated charcoal canister mask, and change the cartriges often. I cant remember why.
Never fill what you can pound out.
Use sanable primer to the last coat.
Cheap primer doenst sand as well as good primer.
Glazing putty shrinks for weeks, use bondo.
DONT SAND THE LEADED SEAMS! I cant remember why.
Jarrid